RSA Said to Plan Sale of Central, Eastern European Assets

Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- RSA Insurance Group Plc, the British
insurer looking to raise capital, is planning the sale of assets
in central and eastern Europe, according to three people
familiar with the plan.

RSA is close to hiring UBS AG to handle the disposal of
businesses including Link4 in Poland and Balta in Latvia, the
people said, asking not to be identified because the
deliberations are private. No final mandate has been given to
UBS, the people said.

The insurer is seeking to bolster its finances after
issuing three profit warnings in the fourth quarter and
injecting 200 million pounds ($332 million) into its Irish unit,
events that prompted the departure of Chief Executive Officer
Simon Lee. Executive Chairman Martin Scicluna said earlier this
month that a review of RSA’s capital position was progressing,
with “all options” being considered.

The shares climbed as much as 1.3 percent in London trading
and were down 0.7 percent at 99.55 pence at 3:22 p.m. Spokesman
Jon Sellors said today that RSA won’t comment on its business
review until next month, when it reports full-year results.

The profit warnings and capital injection helped to wipe
more than 1.3 billion pounds off RSA’s market value in 2013.
Standard & Poor’s cut RSA’s credit rating to A- on Dec. 16 and
said more downgrades could follow unless the company
strengthened its capital.

RSA operates in 32 countries across Europe, Asia, Latin
America, Canada and the Middle East and has made more than 60
acquisitions in eight years. In central and eastern Europe, it
operates in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Russia and the
Czech Republic.

RSA bought Warsaw-based Link4, a car insurer, in 2009. The
London-based firm acquired Balta, a home and car insurer based
in Riga, Latvia through its Codan unit in 2001.